Star Barrel
First appearance	Donkey Kong Country (1994)
Latest appearance	Donkey Kong Bananza (cameo) (2025)

Star Barrels^[1][2] (also known asContinue Barrels)^[3][4][5][6] are objects introduced inDonkey Kong Country. Thesebarrels have white stars painted on them and function ascheckpoints inlevels, usually at midway points. Star Barrels appear in nearly every level of theDonkey Kong Country trilogy,Donkey Kong Land 2, andDonkey Kong Land III. A Star Barrel breaks when touched, with colored sparkles running out. The Star Barrel shakes upon the player re-entering an incomplete level (including if replayed), and the characters burst out. Star Barrels in the remakes of theDonkey Kong Country trilogy even function when the player resets the game, unlike in the original versions.

Certain levels in the games lack Star Barrels.Rickety Race inDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest lacks a Star Barrel, though one was added in theGBA version. InDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, two of theKrematoa levels,Stampede Sprint andRocket Rush (in theGBA version only), do not have Star Barrels.

InDonkey Kong Country, there is a type of Star Barrel known as asave barrel. One of them appears atCandy's Save Point and has the same appearance as ordinary Star Barrels. Unlike their normal counterpart, when the Kongsjump into a save barrel, the barrel does not break. It returns in neither remake.

Star Barrels can be removed with certaincheat codes inDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest andDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Inputting,,,,,,, in the hidden Cheat Code option inDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest removes allDK Barrels and Star Barrels; inputting "ROCKARD" in the Cheat Code menu does the same in the GBA version. ForDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, inputting "TUFST" (SNES version) / "TUFFER" (GBA version) removes all Star Barrels, though the GBA version's code can be used only when a new file is made.

Star Barrels are replaced withContinue Points forDonkey Kong Land, andProfessor Chops is the checkpoint inDonkey Kong Country Returns andDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Star Barrels make a cameo appearance in the Western (Battle) background ofDonkey Konga 3.Tuning forks serve as checkpoints inDonkey Kong Bananza, though giant, unusable Star Barrels also make a cameo appearance as the base of a trophy found in theRacing Layer.

Profiles[edit]

Donkey Kong Country[edit]

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English:
    These barrels are decorated with a star design. If you knock out one of these barrels, you will restart at the barrel's location instead of beginning of the level when you lose a life.^{[page number needed]}

• Wii U Virtual Console manual description:
  • English:
    If you knock out one of these barrels, when you lose a life you will restart at the barrel's location instead of the beginning of the level.^{[page number needed]}

• Wii U Virtual Console manual description:
  • English:
    Break open a star-spangled Continue Barrel to restart at that location the next time you lose a life."^{[page number needed]}

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest[edit]

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English:
    These barrels mark a midway point in the stage. If you break one of these barrels, you'll continue at that point if you lose a life later in the level.^{[page number needed]}

• Wii U Virtual Console manual description:
  • English:
    If you break one of these barrels, you will be able to continue the game from that spot when you lose a life.^{[page number needed]}

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English:
    These barrels mark a midway point in the stage. If you break one, you'll continue at that point should you lose a life later in the level.^{[page number needed]}

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES) /Donkey Kong Land 2 /Donkey Kong Land III[edit]

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English:
    Star Barrels mark a midway point in the stage. If you break one of these barrels, you'll continue from that point.^{[page number needed]}

Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA)[edit]

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English:
    These mark a midway point in the level. Break one to continue from that point if you lose a life before reaching the end.^{[page number needed]}

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Donkey Kong Country sprite

• 

  Donkey Kong Country 2 and3 sprite

• 

  Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong sprite

• 

  Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color) sprite

• 

  Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance) sprite

• 

  Donkey Konga 3 screenshot

• 

  Donkey Kong Bananza screenshot

Names in other languages[edit]

Star Barrel[edit]

Save barrel[edit]

Notes[edit]

• InDonkey Kong Country, there is anunused sprite for the Continue Barrel with its top open.^[20]

References[edit]

• Barrels
• Checkpoints
• Donkey Kong Country objects
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest objects
• Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! objects
• Donkey Kong Land 2 objects
• Donkey Kong Land III objects

• Articles with sources lacking page numbers